We wrapped 4th season of “Grace & Frankie” this week. I feel orphaned, especially from Lily. I miss her already but I have some dates reserved in the months ahead when we will be doing activism again together . . . in Michigan.

Everyone was so happy that our show received 4 EMMY nominations! Here we are, four female nominees on set with some celebratory mimosas (left to right production designer Devorah Herbert, costume designer Allyson Fanger, me, and Lily.)

Here we are with a celebratory cake the production made for the occasion, along with the creators of Grace & Frankie Marta Kaufman and Howard Morris.

I can’t remember the last time my phone rang so much in a day, and I appreciate all the congratulatory messages I received from my friends on twitter and Facebook

I was surprised to be nominated, to tell you the truth. I know what it means to be a true comedian-Lily is an iconic one—and I don’t have those skills. Everyone was so happy that this year both Lily and I were nominated, Lily most of all . . . well no, my BFF Paula Weinstein was the most thrilled and it was she who called me weeping with joy to tell me about the nominations. She knows what an ordeal it was for me in the first year and how much I worry.

Here are some assorted photos of the last weeks shooting.

With the hysterical Julie Hagerty and our vagina balloons.

With director Alan Poul by our pool. Alan directed me a number of times in the newsroom.

With the gorgeous and totally wonderful Peter Gallagher

After a very, very long day.. Marcia Mason, Lily Tomlin and I were compelled to order martinis

With Lisa Kudrow

And I couldn’t resist photos of these wrap gifts I received. This one is an oil painting of my dog Tulea given to me by Laura Rush, a boom operator, and painted by a talented friend of hers. Women never handled sound booms back in the day so it’s a special treat to have Laura and the other women in jobs formerly done by men. About half our directors are women. Tulea looks like she’s looking at herself in a mirror.

Another wrap gift, this balloon assemblage-vagina roses in a turquoise vase. Amazing, huh?

In 10 days, I start shooting “Book Club” with Diane Keaton, Candy Bergen, Mary Steenburgen and Don Johnson. It will be fun, I think. I am looking forward to getting to know them as they are all very interesting. It was written by Bill Holderman (who will also direct) and Erin Simms.

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And then there’s the real world which makes my stomach cramp though I can’t stay away from Rachel Maddow who helps me put it all together. What a great reporter she is, as is Lawrence O’Donnell.

I read in last Sunday’s New York Times that Steve Bannon is reported to have said something along the lines of “We don’t want to change politics. We want to change the culture.” Meaning, the culture of the United States. Given all that is already happening, one can safely say that the culture ‘they’ want is selfish, greedy, deceitful, inhumane, views women as commodities whose only value is how they look, lacking in empathy, prepared to deceive those voters who put them in office and places branding at the pinnacle of achievement.

And now, it’s turning out that our country, once an aspiring beacon of Democracy, is being run by criminals just like the people in Russia. Mobs-ville, USA! Can it be?! Greed, money laundering and massive debt made Trump into a puppet of Russia and he now wants to turn the FBI into part of the executive branch—a bureau that reports to the President!

I’ve spent quite a lot of time in what used to be the Soviet Union -when Putin, the KGB graduate, was Mayor of St Petersburg (Leningrad). I experienced the frightening, dark dread that permeates a society where the police, military and intelligence apparatus are all controlled by the central government. It’s starting to smell like that here. We must not be complacent in the face of this unprecedented onslaught…..

40 Comments

Those balloons are so great. Gotta say I have loved watching Grace and Frankie. The situations y’all get in are so hilarious. Also I agree about Rachel Maddow. She really has become my Walter Cronkite.

Jane I am so grateful for what you and Lilly are doing. I am thrilled the crew employs so many women. You make me believe what Gloria Steinam said. “Women grow radical with age. One day an army of gray haired women may quietly take over the earth” Yes, Yes We Can.

Congratulations, you are an excellent comic actress, I really enjoy Grace, thank you for sharing your interesting life, this is the first time I admire any artist is not my character, even I pray for you every day. Love Candita

Congrats to all of you!! Great show!
I’m with you Jane! Our Country is in trouble! Right now I’m living in TX and I see it every day! Working hard to change things! A lot of new blood down here working hard to move Ted Cruz and others like him OUT!

JANE I CANNOT BELIEVE THAT YOU ARE COMING TO LONDON!!! JUST REALIZED TODAY!!! I’M GONNA BUY A MEET AND GREET TICKET (no matter THE price LOL…) and I’ll finally be able to see you and hopefully talk to you as much as possible (please don’t have security remove me LOL… kidding… half kidding… kidding 😀 😀 :D). I had my name day yesterday (in Hungary, that’s a big deal)… and Qween, you gave me loads of presents. <3 You even submitted an excellent episode for the Emmys. If they watch the episodes indeed… You're giving me life nowadays.

And you just might able to see your #1 fan, your good old blogging pal of a hoot in three months. 😉 Kisses…

UPDATE: I got my ticket, with a meet and photo opportunity! 😀 I cancelled all my gigs for the day… My pulse is out of control. I cannot believe that I have this opportunity!!! <3 There will be tears before bedtime for sure… SEE YOU THERE!!!

I am pleased to find your blog. Also, I am happy to say I enjoy your show. I have NOT done much blogging, but I hope to change that. Keep sharing your views and opinions, as it helps me want to do the same. I too am concerned with our cultural changes and speaking out is necessary. Thank You.

I was thrilled to see both you and Lily nominated! You definitely deserve it! As for our current political situation, it is quite draining. Every day I turn on the news, get frustrated, and think about how many months we have until the mid-term elections and the next presidential elections. When you come to Michigan, please let me know. I would love to hear you speak again and join you in the needed movement. It’s very motivating for me.
I believe I saw you were going to be in Chicago soon. I would have drove there for the film fest for sure, but am on my way to Nova Scotia for a vacation. Enjoy!

Hey Jane, Thank you for all your wonderful entertainment. The next women’s march, we all need vagina balloons!!! They’re wonderful. Yes, most of us knew before the election that Rump was conning the country. Please don’t worry, we’ll get the country back soon. We’ve already begun to work on the 2018 election here in Colorado Springs. As Rachel and Larry often tell us we have to worry about voter suppression. We can’t have that in Colorado because during a brief period of an entire Dem legislature, we passed all mail in ballots. We are not alone. Remember more than 3 million people more did not vote for the thugs now running our Fed. gov’t. Have faith that the forces of sanity and good will eventually prevail. We love you. alma
PS. Do you ever go to your place near Santa Fe? When I encountered you unexpectedly last Sept. I had no agenda and was basically stunned,,,but since then have thought of volumes I’d like to tell you….maybe some day there will be time….although it sometimes feels like time is running out. Trying to make life easier for my executive so getting rid of stuff. Recently found a screen play I started in the 80’s about the GI coffee house…. somewhat still relevant because of the surveillance angle…….Be well…..xx would love another of your wonderful hugs…..

Congrats Jane on the show’s Emmy nominations and for a wonderfully entertaining show. I’m working with Lily and Jane on a new landscape design for their home in Sherman Oaks and I get a little taste for what it’s like to be associated with a hit. Sounds like fun! Btw, your political views/activism are refreshing and so needed. You state it well in this blog, and if there ever was a time to fight, it’s now. Keep well and keep speaking up!

I don’t normally sign up to comment on someone’s blog post but I just wanted to let you know how much I’ve loved being a part of your entire career as well as Lily’s. You two are an inspiration for women of all ages but especially those of us over 50.
I binge watched all 3 seasons on Netflix and can’t wait for season 4. You, Lily, and the entire crew deserve every accolade you’ve received! I haven’t enjoyed a comedy series for years, but after watching the first 3 episodes of Grace & Frankie I was hooked and consequently so are my closest friends and my husband!
Sorry to ramble on, suffice to say, I’m a big fan and look forward to Bookclub as well.
Big hugs! ❤ Deb

Congratulations on your nominations! I hope that you continue to do the show as long as possible. It is so much fun, and there are so few shows with and for ladies of our generations. I applaud your activism for women’s causes and speaking out on other political issues. It encourages me further to do my part in my state. We must continue the work because now it’s more important than ever.
<3

Jane you’ve been my hero since the 60s and your anti-vietmam war activities of which, in the UK, I too was protesting and marching to bring that unneccessary war to a conclusion. The climate change issue by Trump and the now Russian connection is overwhelmingly foreboarding for the US’s democracy. The snag is, Jane, I do wish you would you would reply to my comments. I need the moral boosting and encouragement a simply reply from you would give me. At my age I need all the inspiration I can get to keep me in the loop and make me feel I still have a part to play. I firmly believe Trump will no longer be President come Spring/Summer next year.

Pablo, I surely hope you are right about Trump not lasting out his turn. Me and my friends are doing what we can to reinforce our Democracy. How can I provide you with the inspiration you seek? I’d like to. xx

Hi Jane,
I recently “re-found” you after watching Grace and Frankie on Netflix, after singing and exercising along to your workout with my mum when I was small during the eighties. I just wanted to share that you are such an inspiration to me as a woman in my early thirties in London that is an actress (amongst other things) with bulimia. To know and witness your talent and what you have achieved and are achieving. That you don’t let anything hold you back. That we can do great things by just being who we are, even with the things that cause us struggle and pain like anxiety over the way we look and things like eating disorders. That we are not victims. That we are always powerful, no matter teg circumstances. I am not afraid because I identify with you and I see what is possible for those that are sensitive and true in the world. And that age is no barrier to anything for a woman.
Thank you for sharing yourself with the world, honestly, and beautifully. With you I feel like it’s only just beginning.. for you and for me, because we get to choose who and how we are, each day. We don’t have to let the world teach us who we are, we listen to it but then teach it.
And you are one hell of an actress.
And stunning with it.
With love,
Nat xxxx

Love you Jane. Adore the Vagina ballons. You are always so right on. So happy for your continuing success. As always, a light in the dark. Loving Grace and Frankie. Congrats and hope to see you soon. Clint, David and I are your friends for life.

Jane just a few words from you will do it. I’ve always regarded you as the most stunningly beautiful actor of my generation – as far as I’m concerned the most beautiful ever. Your talent as an actor cannot be disputed. You have all the attributes required. But I noticed something in the China Syndrome when you talk directly to the camera a lot as a reporter. Actors like Bardot, Munroe et al, beautiful women all have come to bed eyes and lips but you have another asset no other female actor has or ever has had – a come to bed voice. It’s feminine yet deep and enticing. But I wander… Trump’s not fit to be President. Think of it, that blockhead is the most powerful man on earth. Trump’s not only a clown but a nut to boot. Jane, It’s the not the trickery and deceit of the Russian connection that disturbs me (that said it was a terrible political injustice that was perpetrated on Hillary Clinton), no it’s the Korean Peninsula that troubles me greatly. Trump, who has surrounded himself with his coterie of military men, is stupid enough to start a war with North Korea and a nuclear holocaust will result. Japan and South Korea can forget it, they’ll be nuked within minutes. What Japan did to the Koreans in the 30s has not been forgotten. Neither has the ’50-’53 Korean war. A war with North Korea will be a rerun of the Vietnam war, minimum particularly if China intervenes as the did in in the Korean war and the covert support they gave Ho Chi Minh and the Veitcong in Vietnam. A worst case scenario is a nuclear war that incinerates us all. Barry Maquire’s ’67/8 song Eve of Destruction may yet be a prophecy that comes to pass. Thank you for replying, Jane, it really has inspired me and I was delighted to receive it.

Pablo, I’m unclear what your question was here but I can say that I am very very worried about what this administration will do re nuclear. No one’s home at Dept of Energy. War might suit DT well…that would cause price of oil to go up which would totally please his cabinet.

I’m always several seasons behind the masses with great entertainment. I don’t watch too much tv these days since the shows are all geared to mindless drivel. However, I recently got Netflix and found Grace & Frankie. I have loved you both since childhood. Lily when she played Edith Ann on Laugh In as the child in the rocker..and you for your early days (’70s) activism..and ’80s exercise guru..not to forget the continued work for women’s equality! I love the show and how it tackles so many (never talked about publicly) women’s issues…especially as we age! Its spot on!!! Great writers and even better actors! I cant wait for season 4.. I just binge watched 1-3 in about two days! Couldn’t shut it off and that says a lot since I really don’t watch tv! Love the fact that y’all are addressing real issues in a humorous way. Keep up the excellent work, on all levels…the acting…the activism…and the ability to help keep the forum of discussion for women’s rights top of mind as we stand together to help preserve our rights as well. In the words of Huey Long… “…aint no body gonna help a hick, sept a hick”…. so from one woman to another… thank for your work…as I begin doing mine! As Gloria Steinam alluded…here comes the gray hair radical women….God bless you Jane…you are an inspiration to me and others….and please tell Lili hi…

Hi Jane, I’m really looking forward to the new G&F series. I’ve also just bought tickets to your London show in October. My PhD research examined the health benefits of music throughout life. The University Press is publishing my thesis as a book in Spring 2018 – called “The Rock & Roll Guide To Staying Alive”. Your workout video was an historic landmark moment in the use of music in exercise. I’d love to get some comments from you for one of my chapters if that’s at all possible? Who should I contact to send some information? Very many thanks. You rock! Julia xxx

Can’t agree more with you regarding the mafioso who currently denigrates the office of President of the United States. What worries me mostly are the countless blind followers who still support him. Perfectly intelligent, sane (or I thought so) friends and family seem to so easily be willing to subvert logic and disregard six or seven trusted news sites and objective journalism to believe whatever he says, even when it is clearly a lie.

So what causes this? I believe it is the result of decades of underfunding public schools and neglecting our educational system. My wife is from France which has a laudable, rigorous educational system respected the world over. The French consider our president a buffoon. I believe we have a worrying problem in this mass of Americans who are allowed to pass through a poor educational system and float through life addicted to games and Kardashians without using their minds in any critical, intelligent manner regarding what our democratic institutions mean, including the history and struggles.

Regarding the abysmal and worrying state of our Executive branch at present, is Hollywood exerting its power on the Republican senators responsible for propping up this would be dictator. Thanks to patriots John McCain and Senators Murkowski and Collins the first signal of a bipartisan effort to contain this virus has emerged. We are at a critical juncture. I would implore the power elite in Hollywood to gather its forces in lobbying a small number of the remaining 49 Republican senators in an effort to strengthen this leaning towards bipartisan containment.

Dear Jane and Lily, Congratulations on the success of Grace and Frankie. For someone who never really liked TV, I am loving Netflix TV here in Australia. The topics of the show are so varied and quite serious at times but you lovely ladies bring humour to each and every show. I am impressed with the level of fittness you both have. I probably should have used the Jane Fonda workout books on my shelf a bit more. Thank you so much for addressing the various issues, it helps us all accept our changes a little more graciously as we are in it together. Keep up your activism work as the world is in need of great leadership globally. Love you both and the guys. Blessings to All, Heather